Not Real Art

If you’re a creative entrepreneur or an artist, chances are that you probably don’t enjoy doing your taxes. Well, today’s guest is here to help! Hannah Cole is an artist, speaker, and tax professional empowering thousands of fellow creatives with clear financial education and tax preparation. As the Founder of Sunlight Tax, she specializes in working with artists and their businesses and, although she has worked at a few ‘buttoned-up’ tax firms in New York City, she loves bringing her skills to the aid of the creative world. In this episode, Hannah debunks the myth that artists are no good with numbers and shares some practical advice to help us impart our own ‘freaky flavor’ into our businesses while also taking money-making seriously. You’ll also gain some insight into her journey from punk-rock-loving anticapitalist to creative tax specialist and what she learned about the art world and her own practice along the way, plus so much more! By delivering engaging tax education that is art-world savvy, Hannah empowers creatives to become self-reliant so that you don’t have to pay someone like her to do the work for you, so make sure to tune in today for an un-intimidating look at your finances with tax expert, Hannah Cole!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Gatekeeping in the art world and the tension between accessibility and enjoyment.
• Find out how Hannah ended up in Asheville after living in New York for many years.
• Hannah shares her journey from punk rock anticapitalist to art-savvy tax specialist.
• Some background on Sunlight Tax and what informed her decision to start it.
• The importance of clear financial education for professional artists.
• How the distinctions between commercial art and fine art have blurred over the years.
• What Hannah learned about business from working in a design agency.
• Empowering artists and debunking the myth that they are no good with numbers.
• The emotional labor inherent in Hannah’s work and how she helps artists take the ‘making money’ part of their business more seriously.
• How school systems prioritize writing and math over visual thinking and communication.
• Fostering democracy in the art world by seeing art as a fundamentally human pursuit.
• Why seeing artists thriving in the entrepreneurial space brings Hannah such joy.
• The inherent advantages that Hannah believes artists have as business owners, including their ability to see what others can’t.
• Revelations Hannah had about being an artist while she was learning about accounting.
• Sourdough challenges artists to view their output as intellectual property.
• Hannah explains why most artists don’t make money through gallery representation.
• Why she believes artists need thick skin to innovate on the business side of their art practice.
• The power of community building and resource sharing in the art world.
• Some of the free resources that Hannah offers for artists.
• Hannah reflects on the importance of delegating rather than DIY-ing sometimes.

For more info, please visit: https://notrealart.com/hannah-cole